Hessel Museum of Art, CCS Bard, Annandale-on-Hudson, United States
June 27–October 18, 2026
Amy Sillman is co-curator, along with Kelly Taxer, of the exhibition Betty Parsons: An Expanded World, the first major retrospective to examine the intertwined legacies of Betty Parsons (1900-1982) as both pioneering abstract artist and trailblazing gallerist who shaped the trajectory of 20th century American art. Sillman also contributed a site-specific room of her painted surfaces for the installation of Parsons’ sculptural works.
The exhibition features approximately 80 works spanning painting, sculpture, and works on paper—presented in tandem with the new film, featuring firsthand recollections by Parsons herself and the artists she exhibited—tracing Parsons’s voluminous output as she evolved from a young academic painter to a mature abstractionist over a six-decade career.
Best known for ushering in the American avant-garde by establishing the careers of Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock, among others, Parsons also maintained a dedicated artistic practice throughout her life. This exhibition centers her output as a painter and sculptor, while exploring the radical history of the Betty Parsons Gallery and its support of underrecognized, experimental artists.
While Parsons exhibited her work years before opening her gallery in 1946, her artistic output has remained largely underrecognized. An Expanded World charts the full range of Parsons’ output from 1922 to 1982, looking at how early watercolors led to developments in abstractions; a prolific 1960s and 70s that expanded her practice to include prismatically hued sculptures; and an evolution into a mature, skillful painter who continued to explore oddball color combinations and compositions through the end of her life.
Through the works on view, a deeply curious and restless woman is revealed. Betty Parsons: An Expanded World considers how she was continually propelled towards what she called “the expanding world,” a theme informed by her understanding of American modernism and reflected in her practices as both an artist and art dealer.
Learn more at the Hessel Museum of Art.
